


princess knows best

by tailey06



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Don't copy to another website, Family Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Male-Female Friendship, One Shot, big sister twilight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:02:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26256844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tailey06/pseuds/tailey06
Summary: celestia decides it’s time that spike left equestria and lived among dragons for good, but twilight isn’t going to accept that.
Relationships: Princess Celestia & Twilight Sparkle (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), Spike & Twilight Sparkle (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Kudos: 13





	princess knows best

**Author's Note:**

> or what i like to call “au where twilight isn’t a selfish bitch and cares about spike on the same level he does🥳🥳”
> 
> just kidding, we love twilight, even if she treated spike horribly in the first few seasons <3

The blinding white faded and Twilight trotted into the throne room of Princess Celestia’s castle, before stopping with a small start.

“Huh?” she questioned, her tail swishing. The thrones were unvacant and the entire room was empty. She pulled a hoof to her chest and her gaze darted around quizzically.

“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student.”

Twilight’s ears perked at the sound of her favorite princess in all of Equestria and she softly pivoted on her hooves. She faced Princess Celestia, ever so graceful as she stood in the hallway of her castle. Her beauty is beyond compare, her elegant multi-colored mane and tail drifting effortlessly in the air as if the wind were always fanning her. She faired beautifully despite being millenniums old and she radiated regality and brilliance. No matter the close bond she and the princess had, no matter how often she saw her mentor, the alicorn still took her breath away at times and she couldn’t help but bow to her princess.

“Princess Celestia,” she greeted, picking herself up from her submissive stance and padding over to her. She stood sideways in front of the princess and stretched out, where Celestia placed her head down on the ridge of her back, Twilight nuzzling the back of her head to the side of her mentor’s.

“You were just the pony I was looking forward to seeing. We must discuss urgent matters at once.”

Twilight blinked. _I_ _t sounds important_. “Oh. Okay. What do you need to discuss, princess?”

“It is regarding Spike,” she said, striding towards the throne room, Twilight in tow. “I am afraid he must leave Equestria. The Dragonlands have much more to offer a growing dragon.”

“For how long?” she asked, trotting next to Celestia. “Because I don’t feel comfortable with him staying there by himself and I have-”

“Forever.”

Twilight froze. It seemed as if time froze with her. The air stilled around her and the skin under her fur broke out into goosebumps. _This couldn’t be happening. Princess Celestia would never do such a thing. She liked Spike! I should let her explain herself. Yes! She’s just kidding, just joking around. Or maybe I misheard. I must have heard her wrong. She can’t really be asking me to-_

“Twilight.”

Her head snapped to where her mentor sat, on the top step leading to where her and her sister’s thrones lay.

“I know this will be difficult, believe me, but it must be done,” she spoke, her tone not betraying that of regality and elegance. Not a trace of emotion weaved its way through her voice.

“B-but why? Spike’s been raised by ponies, he’ll be eaten alive by the dragons there! And the citizens of Ponyville aren’t bothered by him, he’s a good dragon! If this is a culture thing--he wants to live among ponies, princess,” Twilight explained.

“This is not a matter of which Spike goes voluntarily.”

“S-so you’re _banishing_ him? What reasoning do you have to banish him from all of Equestria?” she cried, lowering her body as she spoke up to her mentor.

“As much as Spike is a joy to be around, he is still a _dragon_ . My subjects in Ponyville may be accustomed to his presence but others are not. He is terrorizing the citizens of Canterlot and the Crystal Empire everytime you two visit,” she countered, sitting up tall.

“Spike doesn’t terrorize anypony-!”

“-He may not mean to, but he _does_ . My student, you represent me. Everytime you bring Spike along to a royal event or announce yourself as my student with Spike at your flank, that is a representation of me and my competence as a ruler. What does it show when my star student, my prized pupil, has a dragon companion?”

“I-I don’t understand. _You’re_ the one who appointed my parents legal custody. _You_ allowed him to stay and become a part of our family. You’re the reason he’s in Ponyville,” she said softly, ears flat against her head.

“And it was one of my biggest mistakes. It seems that even princesses have faults.”

Twilight lowered herself to the floor, tucking her legs under her body and ducking her head. Celestia stood.

“I will be asking my guards to fetch him so you two can say your goodbyes.”

“Please, princess, don’t take him,” she whispered, tears gathering in her eyes.

Princess Celestia made her way down the steps and halted in front of her pupil. The alicorn bent down and lowered herself to the floor, trying to catch Twilight’s eye. She tucked her legs as well, mimicking Twilight’s stance. She extended a neatly-trimmed wing and wrapped it around her student. Twilight raised her head, tears streaking down her face. Celestia placed a gold-plated hoof under Twilight’s chin, lifting her head and leveling it with her own.

“Twilight, look at me.” Twilight did not look.

“Twilight Sparkle, look at your princess,” she demanded, eyes betraying her calm exterior. Violet snapped to hot pink.

“What did you think was going to happen, my dear student? Did you think you and Spike were going to live together in Ponyville forever? Spike will one day grow, grow much bigger than this castle we lay in. You will die and Spike will live. Who will keep him under wraps? I have much more important means than keeping tabs on a predator in my country.”

“Spike wouldn’t attack anypony!” Twilight exclaimed, standing up.

“Oh? And is this the same Spike who after getting a few gifts for his birthday grew into a fifty-foot dragon and rampaged through Ponyville?” Celestia challenged, standing to her full height and unfurling her wings, raising them threateningly at her sides.

“You can’t judge creatures by their worst mistakes! Your sister turned into Nightmare Moon and tried to cast eternal night on Equestria, but you forgave her!” Twilight yelled, cowering before her but practically muzzle-to-muzzle with her mentor.

“That is different!” Celestia shouted in her royal canterlot voice. Twilight gripped at the floor with her hooves, awkwardly trying to stay on the ground from the sheer power emitted from the princess before her. She pawed at the ground with her front hooves, her lips and mane pulling back, her tail snapping and thrashing in the air behind her.

“How?” she cried, all but crumbling to the ground, panting and quivering. “How is it different, my princess? Because he’s a dragon? Please. Please, princess, I’ll do anything! Let me prove to you that he’s not dangerous! Please, let him stay! I’ll let him go off on his own in the Dragonlands when he’s ready, I’ll keep him confined to Ponyville, I’ll end my studies, I-I’ll stop being your student! Just please, don’t make me leave him. You can’t ask me to do that!” she implored, sobs wracking her frame.

She collapsed at her mentor’s hooves, hugging the alicorn’s front leg. She whimpered and sniffled, forehead pressed into the princess’ leg.

“I’m begging of you, please don’t take Spike...”

Celestia seemed to consider this for a moment, before resting a garnished hoof on Twilight’s head and shoving her student off. Twilight looked up at her, wide eyes pooling with tears that had long soaked the fur of her face, matting and discoloring it.

“It has already been decided.”

The frantic unicorn shook her head, her disheveled bangs catching on her drooping ears.

“No. No, you don’t get to decide that. With all due respect, Princess Celestia, you can’t banish him all because of a simple ideation or your prejudice against dragons! He’s my family! Mine! You can’t take him! He’s just a baby dragon! He won’t hurt anypony!” Twilight shouted hoarsely, practically tripping over her hooves to get in front of the princess, blocking the entrance.

“Please don’t do this, your highness. Please. There’s still time to change your mind,” she whispered, ears pressed against her head. She hadn’t called Celestia ‘your highness’ since she was a filly, but she was desperate and panicked and clinging to anything that could change the princess’ mind.

Celestia lowered her nose to nuzzle her student’s cheek and perambulated past the unicorn and through the doors of the throne room. The doors swung closed and the room was empty once more.

She curled up in the right corner closest to the doors, hiding her face in her tail. Broken sobs escaped past her lips and she wasn’t sure if the absence of hoofsteps in the hallway were because the princess teleported or if she simply couldn’t hear them over the sound of her own gasps and hiccups.

“Twilight!” A faded voice echoed through the entire room.

“Twilight!” Came the booming voice a second time, bouncing off the walls.

“TWILIGHT!” All noises were drown out by a familiar voice and her vision blurred white as the room spun around her.

~~

Twilight shook her head, blinking hard a few times as she looked around, taking in the new but familiar surroundings. She watched as Spike raced down the obsidian steps, sharp claws clicking against the crystal staircase.

“I know you told me to stay up there but you were down here for such a long time and you weren’t answering and I got worried so I came down here and you were just staring at that wall! And I was calling your name but I couldn’t seem to get your attention and--what were you looking at?” he rambled, going off on a tangent and gesturing wildly with his claws. He waddled up curiously to the door, inspecting it. 

“I mean, it’s just a wall,” he stated, before the whites of his eyes turned green and his irises and pupils turned different shades of red.

Twilight quickly pulled him back from the door, kicking the door closed with her back hoof. His eyes returned to normal while hers filled with involuntary tears.

“Twi . .?” Spike asked cautiously, claw reaching out tediously towards her. “Are you okay?”

Suddenly, the unicorn leapt at the baby dragon, tackling him to the ground. She swaddled him up in her arms, the two rolling on the floor a few times before she lazily ended up on her back, hindquarters sprawled out and tail flicking excitedly.

“SPIKE! Oh, Spike, I’m so happy to see you,” she cooed, lifting him up by the armpits in the air, his back legs and tail just barely grazing the fur on her stomach. He stared down at Twilight’s tear-stricken face, growing increasingly more concerned by the second.

“I’m . . . happy to see you too, but why are you acting so weird?” he asked, maneuvering his body to bend down, gently wiping a tear from her cheek. He was careful not to cut her skin or poke her eye out with his claw. She sniffled, letting her front legs give out. He settled on her chest and she wrapped all four legs around him, nuzzling his cheek with her nose.

“H-hey! Twi! S-stop! I’m not a hatchling anymore and, heh, your fur tickles! Knock it off!” he laughed, trying to shy away from the unicorn, who was continuing her onslaught of nuzzles and nose-kisses.

Once she was satisfied with the number of nudges and cuddles, she pushed herself up, letting Spike slide in between her hind legs. She swiped a hoof over the spines on his head and Spike looked up at her, all wide-eyed and innocent. The face that Fake-Celestia had tried to send away.

She glanced over at the door, biting the inside of her cheek.

“King Sombra’s dark magic. A door that leads to your worst fears,” she explained, pointing to the door with a hoof while wrapping her tail around Spike’s midsection.

“Did that fear have . . something to do with me?” he asked, playing with her tail and trying to smooth out the frazzled pieces.

“Yes,” she said softly.

He looked up at her again, before turning his body sideways and resting his cheek against her stomach; her soft, purple fur feeling warm and oddly cozy on his smooth scales. He propped his back legs on her left hindquarter as Twilight unraveled her tail from around him.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Not particularly,” she answered and it was the truth. She really, really did not want to think about it right now. All she wanted to do was sit with her dragon and pretend like it never happened. It wasn’t real, it was a hallucination. It shouldn’t be shaking her up so badly.

“When I have nightmares and stuff . . . you always say that it’s good to talk about it with somepony. Not good to bottle it up and all that,” he tried, glancing up at her.

“Maybe later, Spike,” she responded, giving him a soft noogie on the forehead.

They sat in silence for a few moments, just basking in each other’s company, until Spike spoke up.

“Soo . . . about King Sombra.”

Twilight’s eyes widened and she jumped up on all fours, knocking Spike over in the process. “OmigodtheCrystalEmpireKingSombratheTEST!”

She galloped over to the door, igniting her horn and blasting a stream of magenta magic into the rhombus-shaped crystal above it. A rainbow cast around the drab room and Spike looked on in awe. Twilight lifted the door’s handle with her magic and threw open the door to reveal an intensly pristine white room.

“C’mon, Spike, hop on! I have a Crystal Empire to save and a test to pass!” she exclaimed, as Spike hoisted himself onto her back and wrapped his arms around her neck, holding on tightly as she dashed up a new flight of stairs.

**Author's Note:**

> here’s my take on s3e02 “the crystal empire -- part two.” instead of twilight’s worst fear being failing princess celestia’s test, i thought it would be interesting to see how it played out if her worst fear was spike being taken from her. also, in this one shot she doesn’t let spike suffer through his worst fear, which was honestly a dick move on her end lmao. but i understand why the writer’s did it and it was interesting and quite adorable to see that spike’s worst fear was losing twilight. a lot of fans were confused on why it wasn’t rarity hating him or not loving him back, but it makes perfect sense to me. twilight is his family--his sister, his caretaker, his mentor, she is his everything. rarity, although he loves her, is just a crush. the abandonment of a family member hurts greater than your crush rejecting you, in my eyes.
> 
> anyways, i hope it was an enjoyable read! this is my first time posting on ao3 so i’m kinda nervous, pls be gentle. kudos and comments r greatly appreciated! i love reading comments and reviews from readers🥺 feel free to point out any spelling errors or grammar-related mistakes because this isn’t beta-read. thanks for reading and don’t forget to eat today💞


End file.
